Many methods for the precision transfer and handling of fluids are known and used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications. The presently burgeoning industries of biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals are particularly relevant examples of industries requiring ultra-pure fluid handling and transfer techniques. Not only is purity a concern, current biotechnological screening and manufacturing methods also require high throughput to efficiently conduct screening of compound libraries, synthesis of screening components, and the like.
Current fluid transfer methods require contacting the fluid with a transfer device, e.g., a pipette, a pin, or the like. Such contact methods dramatically increase the likelihood of contamination. Many biotechnology procedures, e.g., polymerase chain reaction (PCR), have a sensitivity that results in essentially a zero tolerance for contamination. Accordingly, a non-contact method for fluid transfer would result in a drastic reduction in opportunities for sample contamination.
Current biotechnology screening techniques may involve many thousands of separate screening operations, with the concomitant need for many thousands of fluid transfer operations in which small volumes of fluid are transferred from a fluid source (e.g., a multi-well plate comprising, for example, a library of test compounds) to a target (e.g., a site where a test compound is contacted with a defined set of components). Thus, not only the source, but also the target may comprise thousands of loci that need to be accessed in a rapid, contamination-free manner.
Similarly, biotechnology synthesis methods for the generation of tools useful for conducting molecular biology research often require many iterations of a procedure that must be conducted without contamination and with precision. For example, oligonucleotides of varying lengths are tools that are commonly employed in molecular biology research applications, as, for example, probes, primers, anti-sense strands, and the like. Traditional synthesis techniques comprise the stepwise addition of a single nucleotide at a time to a growing oligomer strand. Contamination of the strand with an erroneously placed nucleotide renders the oligonucleotide useless. Accordingly, a non-contact method for transferring nucleotides to the reaction site of a growing oligomer would reduce the opportunity for erroneous transfer of an unwanted nucleotide that might otherwise contaminate a pipette or other traditional contact-based transfer device.
Furthermore, existing fluid transfer methods are limited, and do not conveniently and reliably produce the high efficiency, high-density arrays. Such arrays are also useful in conducting screening, synthesis, and other techniques commonly used in biotechnology.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a non-contact method for the precision transfer of small amounts of fluid in a rapid manner that is easily automated to meet industry needs.